When it comes to the shape of Brexit Britain, we hear a lot about the Norwegian and Swiss models – nations outside the European Union with strong links to it. We also need to talk about the New Zealand model, at least when it comes to biosecurity.
The UK and New Zealand share more than just a love of sport; both are island nations of similar size and distance from the equator, and their climates are similar. But, unlike the UK, New Zealand’s economy is dependent on tourism and agriculture. Primary products such as dairy, timber and fruit contribute around 10 per cent of GDP, compared with less than 1 per cent in the UK.
For this reason, New Zealand takes biosecurity very seriously, to keep at bay diseases and pests that might threaten important species. At the border, passengers have to declare all plant and animal products, bags are X-rayed and detector dogs used to ensure compliance.
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This is part of a multilayered system which starts abroad to reduce pest and disease risks. It requires plants to be sourced from areas free of specified pests. It includes surveillance and response systems to eradicate or manage pests and diseases should they get past border controls. All plants and plant products cannot enter unless risk has been assessed and appropriate measures put in place. Almost all planting material must be imported under permit be quarantined.
But globalisation has increased such risks. Between 2003 and 2014, air passenger numbers grew by 47 per cent and countries exporting to New Zealand increased dramatically. What’s more, the plant trade continues to burgeon in size and complexity.
Free movement
The UK faces the same phenomenon but, worryingly, there is much greater freedom of movement of plants and related products into the country. High-risk pathways, such as plants and seeds of some trees, are controlled but the free movement of goods is enshrined in the founding principles of the EU, and so in plant health terms the UK does not benefit from being geographically separate.
This is reflected in the of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which lists almost 1000 pests and diseases. They include the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. This has devastated olive crops in southern Italy and can infect more than 350 different species, from crops and ornamental plants to trees and weeds. It would have a huge impact if it reached the UK.
New Zealand doesn’t have all the answers, but the UK should consider taking a leaf out of its book if Brexit presents a chance to rethink plant health controls. A simple place to start would be to increase public awareness of pests and diseases, hand in hand with inculcating a sense of responsibility to act to mitigate risks. Although the government takes the lead in biosecurity, industry, NGOs, researchers and the public must play their part too.
Currently UK travellers are allowed to bring plants back from abroad, including bulbs, seeds and rooted plants from EU countries and more limited species from non-EU countries within Europe and around the Mediterranean.
Rules do exist on what can and can’t be imported but they are complex, not well understood and hard to enforce. It is most likely that pests such as fuchsia gall mite arrived in the UK via personal imports. Strengthening these rules, coupled with visible border checks, would reduce the chance of new plant health problems in the UK.
Some schemes providing assurance of the health of plants being traded by industry are emerging. This should be extended to certification for all UK importers of nursery stock and would require, for example, trained operators, proper record-keeping to enable traceability and minimum holding periods for those plants.
Coupled with this, companies should be entitled to compensation for plants destroyed on biosecurity grounds, as happens with animals infected with certain diseases. Large-scale landscaping schemes, such as for new high-speed rail links, also need to factor in plant health.
Finally, a group encompassing experts and industry should be formed to develop a strategic overview of UK plant health and to provide independent advice to government ministers.
Change is possible. Imports of sweet chestnut and plane trees have fallen 60 per cent since the UK government introduced new regulations to protect against chestnut blight and plane wilt. With Brexit fast approaching and the list of threats increasing, it’s a good time to get more serious about protecting our flora.
